We've had a lot of great telly this year so far, with the BBC alone already giving us the show of the summer in What It Feels Like for a Girl and a brilliantly binge-worthy new cosy crime series, led by Timothy Spall, in the Wales-set Death Valley.
But we're only just half way through 2025, so what else should you be looking out for in the coming months? Thankfully, quite a bit! As the BBC has got a lot of exciting new offerings on the way – so, let us fill you in.
Riot Women
Happy Valley fans will be hyped to hear that Sally Wainwright – also behind Last Tango in Halifax and Gentleman Jack – will return to the BBC with this bold new, female-driven drama.
The six-part series has an impressive cast of names attached, including Sherwood star Lorraine Ashbourne, Joanna Scanlan (Slow Horses) and Amelia Bullmore (The Jetty).
As the name suggests, Riot Women will centre on five women that form a punk-rock band and who "refuse to be silenced by age or expectation". Sign us up immediately.
Riot Women is set to arrive to both BBC One and BBC iPlayer later in 2025.
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The Guest
It's been billed as a "twisty-turny edge of your seat thriller" and is set to tell the story of a successful business owner named Fran who forms an intoxicating and intense friendship with one of her employees, Ria.
The synopsis goes on to tease: "When Fran's advice leads to a shocking event, the lives of these two very different women become intertwined by shared secrets and dangerous plots. What follows is a compelling and manipulative game of cat-and-mouse. But just who is playing who?"
The Guest stars Broadchurch star Eve Myles and Gabrielle Creevy (BBC's In My Skin) as the central women.
The Guest is coming this autumn to BBC iPlayer, BBC One, and BBC One Wales.
King and Conqueror
This UK period drama is coming to the BBC later in 2025, and stars James Norton (Happy Valley) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones) who will play Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy respectively.
The historical epic will chart their clash at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the roots "of which stretch back decades", extending "through a pair of interconnected family dynasties, struggling for power across two countries and a raging sea".
Norton described that King and Conqueror was "a brutal shoot" (via Deadline), adding that show boss Baltasar Kormákur "had a very clear vision around the tone and the aesthetic", wanting to "avoid this being a clean, cosy period drama..."
King and Conqueror is coming to the BBC in 2025.
Film Club
Aimee Lou Wood, breakout star from Netflix's Sex Education and more recently The White Lotus, is bringing us this six-part romantic comedy about two friends who use their love of movies to hint that they are madly in love with one another.
Wood is both writing and starring in the drama, playing the main character of Evie (Wood) who has a film club with her best friend Noa (Nabhaan Rizwaan). Vigil and Gentleman Jack star Suranne Jones also stars as Evie's mother, a character which has been described as "eccentric and unconventional".
Film Club will air on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer later this year.
The Night Manager, season 2
The highly-anticipated return of the Tom Hiddleston-fronted spy drama was included on a BBC slate for its 2025 releases (via Hollywood Reporter) and it's fair to say that fans cannot wait.
It's been confirmed that Hiddleston will of course be back as Jonathan Pine, with Olivia Colman and Alistair Petrie also set to return for the new episodes. The popular drama will be back for two new seasons, and its story will pick up eight years after the events of the previous finale.
The Night Manager seasons 2 and 3 will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK, and Prime Video worldwide.
The Cage
This brand new BBC drama, from The Responder boss Tony Schumacher, has been described by the Beeb as a "high-stakes, high energy crime story set within the world of a Liverpool Casino with two unforgettable characters at its heart."
The Cage stars the BAFTA award-winning Sheridan Smith and Showtrial's Michael Socha, with its supporting ensemble cast also including Barry Sloane (House of the Dragon), Geraldine James (Dope Girls), Julia Papp (Baptiste) and Dave Hart (The Responder).
We've not had a release window confirmed just yet, but there's already been a first look so we're hoping we don't have to wait too long.
Unforgivable
This brand new drama has a number of really exciting names attached. Starring Anna Maxwell Martin (whose BBC murder-mystery is currently trending on Netflix), Marcella star Anna Friel and Bobby Schofield (SAS Rogue Heroes, The Suspect), Unforgivable has also been written by Time's Jimmy McGovern and directed by Showtrial's Julia Ford.
The fictional drama explores the aftermath and impact of an act of abuse, which was carried out by someone within a family.
Unforgivable will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC Two this year.
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TV Editor, Digital Spy Laura has been watching television for over 30 years and professionally writing about entertainment for almost 10 of those. Previously at LOOK and now heading up the TV desk at the UK's biggest TV and movies site Digital Spy, Laura has helped steer conversations around some of the most popular shows on the box. Laura has appeared on Channel 5 News and radio to talk viewing habits and TV recommendations. As well as putting her nerd-level Buffy knowledge to good use during an IRL meet with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laura also once had afternoon tea with One Direction, has sat around the fire pit of the Love Island villa, spoken to Sir David Attenborough about the world's oceans and even interviewed Rylan from inside the Big Brother house (housemate status, forever pending).
